Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable-Chapter 879 - 790: Unwilling to Be a Slave (Part 10)

As expected, after the meal, they distributed some fruits, and Qiushuang and Qiuyi both showed a sense of closeness to Nangong Shuangshuang. Previously, although Nangong Shuangshuang had become a confidante of Bai Ruoyun, Qiushuang and Qiuyi only extended superficial warmth towards her.

Because they could not gain any benefits from Nangong Shuangshuang, they did not need to be genuinely warm towards her. Now that they had received real benefits from Nangong Shuangshuang, they truly showed a sense of closeness.

After eating, Luo Yueying went to the kitchen to help with chores and chat with someone. However, Nangong Shuangshuang did not go to the kitchen to help like Luo Yueying; instead, she was pondering where to find some herbs.

Relying solely on massage and acupuncture cannot cure all diseases; having medicine on hand is necessary. She couldn’t have any designs on the medicines in the Imperial Hospital’s Imperial Pharmacy, but in fact, many herbs are commonly seen in everyday life.

For example, the mugwort that Nangong Shuangshuang was urgently seeking at the moment is everywhere and can be easily found, but it has significant medicinal value. Moxibustion, combined with acupuncture, is just right for treating Xiao Chun’s leg injury.

Nangong Shuangshuang contemplated how vast the Imperial Palace was, with many deserted palace halls not occupied by masters. Some corners of the Imperial Palace, left neglected and uncleaned, were sure to grow many weeds. Mugwort is robust and quick to grow, so these places would certainly have it.

But now she was a servant in the Violence Room and could not leave the room at will, so Nangong Shuangshuang directly went to Bai Ruoyun and straightforwardly explained her desire to go outside to find mugwort, also detailing its uses.

Bai Ruoyun was quite surprised by Nangong Shuangshuang’s words. In Bai Ruoyun’s mind, medicinal herbs were gathered from the mountains or at the very least from secluded places far from human habitation. She never imagined that herbs could grow within the heavily populated Imperial Palace.

However, Bai Ruoyun now had great faith in Nangong Shuangshuang’s medical skills. Since Nangong Shuangshuang claimed there were herbs, then there must be. Moreover, among the herbs Nangong Shuangshuang sought was one that Xiao Chun urgently needed, making it all the more crucial to address.

As for Nangong Shuangshuang not being able to leave the Violence Room, it was easy to handle; as long as she left for a reason and not without permission, it would be acceptable.

Bai Ruoyun was quite concerned about Xiao Chun’s condition and decided to personally accompany Nangong Shuangshuang to gather mugwort. As the steward of the Violence Room, Bai Ruoyun was free to leave the room.

Although she couldn’t wander around palaces where masters resided, Bai Ruoyun intended to go to deserted palaces and the corners of the Imperial Palace, where sighting people was unlikely, and thus wouldn’t violate any palace regulations.

The first place Bai Ruoyun took Nangong Shuangshuang was the southeast corner of the palace, precisely a deserted palace hall. Though it was simple, the building was vast. It was extremely dilapidated, overgrown with wild grass, and appeared desolate.

In her previous life, Nangong Shuangshuang never knew there was such a palace hall in the Imperial Palace, even after so many years. Supposedly, even uninhabited palace halls in the harem should be maintained regularly. Although inevitably desolate and somewhat dilapidated, unless completely abandoned, they shouldn’t have been so run-down.

Moreover, the late Emperor was extravagant and absurd, quick-tempered, loved beauties, and luxuries. He once depleted the National Treasury to select beauties from all over the country to fill the harem and spent vast sums to expand and build the palace. If the late Emperor had not died due to excess in just five years, he might have ruined the country.

With the late Emperor’s lavish ways, all abandoned palace halls in the harem were newly refurbished. Although many places remained vacant later on, the years of vacancy were not long. Supposedly, there shouldn’t have been a palace hall in such disrepair in the harem?

Nangong Shuangshuang couldn’t help but curiously ask Bai Ruoyun, "Aunt, what is this palace hall? How could it be so desolate and dilapidated?"

Bai Ruoyun looked up at the run-down palace hall and sighed, "This place is the Cold Palace. During the late Emperor’s time, the harem was filled with beauties, yet frequently some beauties would anger the late Emperor and be sent to the Cold Palace. Countless concubines and beauties abandoned by the late Emperor were housed here.

The days in the Cold Palace were unbearably tough, far more painful than our Violence Room. The concubines inside the Cold Palace would cry and plead daily, wailing day and night. It’s said that the crying could be heard from far away, sounding eerie and frightening.

After the late Emperor’s passing, the Empress Dowager took pity on those concubines and beauties sent to the Cold Palace for minor transgressions and persuaded the Emperor, saying the punishment was too harsh. The women in the Cold Palace, along with future erring concubines, were sent to the Royal Taoist Temple to practice instead.

This way, the erring concubines could be punished without excessive harshness, while also allowing these women to pray for the country, reaping multiple benefits.

The women in the Cold Palace, enduring their hard days, found the opportunity to leave for the Daoist Temple akin to moving from Hell to Heaven.

It’s said the women leaving the Cold Palace collectively knelt and kowtowed in gratitude towards the Empress Dowager’s palace, moved to tears. Even the common people praised the Empress Dowager’s mercy, and thereafter regarded her as the exemplary figure for all women in the land."

When Bai Ruoyun mentioned the Empress Dowager, she clasped her hands and appeared full of admiration and respect, clearly genuinely revering the Empress Dowager.

Nangong Shuangshuang followed in praising the Empress Dowager’s mercy but inwardly sneered at the Empress Dowager’s clever maneuver. Using the discarded concubines of the late Emperor as a springboard, she acquired a good reputation and secured her position as Empress Dowager. Even if the Emperor wasn’t fond of her, the acclaim from the people meant he had to be filial to her.

Nangong Shuangshuang dared to bet her life that the kneeling, kowtowing concubines from the Cold Palace, the people’s praise, and the reverence as a role model for women across the land, all had influences directed by the Empress Dowager.

It was evident that the Empress Dowager extended her reach both in the harem and in the previous dynasty, and no wonder the Emperor was firmly suppressed by her. Although ancestral rules forbid her from involving herself in governance, she still influenced politics from behind the scenes, and the Emperor had to endure her various antics.

The matters concerning the Empress Dowager were beyond her reach for now. Currently, she was no more than a small figure that the Empress Dowager could crush with a finger, not yet capable of contending with the Empress Dowager. Her urgent priority wasn’t seeking revenge for the manipulative death in her past life at the hands of the Empress Dowager, but rather saving her father, Nangong Chengxuan.

In the more immediate present, Nangong Shuangshuang’s pressing task was finding herbs. Meals must be eaten one bite at a time, and roads must be walked step by step. She was not in a rush!

The Cold Palace, being the only palace hall that hadn’t been renovated and completely abandoned without any cleaning, had been entirely overtaken by plants, flourishing vigorously. As soon as Nangong Shuangshuang arrived here, she immediately found several common herbs.